Tsubasa Alchemist
by Carmen Veiga
Summary: When Carmen Vega, childhood friend to the Elric Brothers and Winry, ends up in a different dimension, she needs to find someone who can help her get back home. Will she find it when she meets Syaoran and the others?
1. Chapter 1: The Storm

**Author's notes-**Okay, I know what your all thinking, who the HELL is Carmen Vega? Well. If you've read my profile, my pen name is the name of a character I made up for Fullmetal Alchemist. I just spelled the last name wrong by accident for the pen name *sweat drop*. I don't feel like explaining all her background info now but, I will tell it in sections at the end of each chapter. Oh yeah, I know that Ed, Al, and Winry are 18 and 17 in the movies, but this is before all of that.

KawaiiChibiHime33, my personal editor, is responsible for editing these chapters for your enjoyment ^_^

**Chapter One: The Storm**

The sun rose in the Autumn sky, painting the clouds beautiful shades of gold, red, and tinges of pink as late afternoon approached. The meadows were soon drenched in the beautiful light. Taking in the view up on the hillside were four figures. A young, blonde haired woman, about the age of seventeen, sat on the fence, the cool fall air blowing strands of her hair. She wore a white blouse with a brown open over coat over that. From there, she wore black pants, with black shoes on her feet. Her eyes were dark blue, like the sea.

Sitting next to the woman was a young man, who was only a year younger. His hair, like hers was blonde, but with more of a dirty shade. It was long, so he had it in a low braid, which hung halfway down his back. He wore a bright scarlet overcoat, with a black jacket with white trim underneath. His outfit ended with black pants and boots. His eyes were a golden brown that gleamed with courage, but had hints of sadness if one was keen enough to look.

The third of the group was much younger then the other three, around eleven years of age. She sat in front of the fence, her legs crossed Indian style. She had short, straight blond hair that came just above her shoulders and framed her heart shaped face. Her eyes were a dark brown which were widened as she stared in wonder at the sunset. She wore a pale pink shirt whose sleeves came down to her elbows. On her legs she wore a pair of dark blue jeans, which the knees were now covered in grass stains. On her feet she wore pink and white high tops. To top it off, she wore a pink fleece fall jacket.

The last of the four was behind the fence, leaning casually against a tree, with her arms crossed in front of her chest. This woman, unlike the other three, had light brown hair, with some natural blond highlights. It was up in two thick braids, which hung halfway down her back. Her eyes were an extremely dark shade of green, like the color of a heavily wooded forest. She wore a thin, open, dark blue jean jacket with the collar smoothed down. A red tank top was worn underneath. Navy blue jeans covered her legs. Knee high brown combat boots covered her feet, her choice of footwear for the past nine years. Around her neck, she wore a heart shaped golden locket, a gift from her deceased father. Her right hand was strange, however. Instead of where a real hand would be, an auto-mail one was in its place. Over her shoulders, she wore a dark blue hooded cloak. Holding the cloak in place was a small, blue pendent. Water symbols were engraved into the surface; the symbol of the Ikora tribe. A mark was embedded into the flesh on her left arm. An outlined head of a cat; the _mark _of the cat.

The five of them watched the sunset for a few moments longer. Then, breaking the silence, the youngest sighed. "Prettiest sunset I've ever seen. What about you Carmen?" she asked.

The young water alchemist gave a shrug. "I don't know if it's the prettiest, Sarah. You, Winry, Al, and I have seen plenty of sunsets, and most of them are just the same as this one." was her reply. The other alchemist turned his head to give his childhood friend a smile. Carmen couldn't understand how Alphonse could be so cheerful when so much had happened in the past two years. Carmen and Sarah's father's death (the two girls were sisters), Carmen's hand getting amputated after a brutal fight with the Homunculus, but only to get a replacement auto-mail hand from Winry, and finally, the worst of all, Al's older brother, Edward had left them. Carmen still believed he would return...someday.

Winry stretched her arms over her head. "Well, it's getting late. We should be heading back now."

Suddenly, Carmen sensed the air getting colder. Looking up at the sky, she was surprised to see pitch black storm clouds starting to quickly cover the sun. _"What the hell?"_ she thought to herself. There was no way that a storm could roll in that fast. As if on cue, the wind started to pick up as the rain came pouring down. Lighting lit up the sky as thunder crashed so loud that Carmen could feel the vibration from the boom inside her.

"Run! It's dangerous out here!" Al shouted to the others.

The two alchemists, mechanic, and the girl streaked through the woods, trying to get back to the Rockbelle house. For some reason, Carmen was having a hard time keeping up with the others. It was odd, since her animal spirit was a cat, so she naturally could run fast.

Her foot then got caught in a tree root, causing her to fall right onto her face and into the mud. "Carmen!" Sarah exclaimed, concern in her tone. As she rushed to her sister's side to help her up, a sudden whirlpool of water formed at her feet, rising slowly around Carmen.

"What? Why in God's name am I teleporting now?" Carmen screamed out. The whirlpool by now had engulfed her, blocking off Sarah from her. She then felt herself beginning to teleport. "Carmen!" was the last thing she heard before the water alchemist let out a frightened scream, and everything went dark.

* * *

Pain coursed throughout her as she felt the whirlpool subside. Carmen slowly opened her eyes, feeling rain drops fall on her face. She was lying on her side. Looking around, she was in an alley. It reminded her a little bit of Central.

Wait; was she back home in the city? She gingerly got up, heaving a sigh as she looked down at her milk chocolate brown cat legs. Turning into her cursed cat form every now and then was starting to get on her nerves.

As she made her way out of the alley, she realized with a shock that she wasn't back in Central. The buildings here were a lot different then the ones in her old home. As she walked along the deserted, dark streets, her thick cat fur became wetter, soon weighing her down. "God, how am I supposed to find out where I am when I'm a wet, freaking cat?" Carmen hissed to herself.

Then, a loud bang made her stop cold. Turning her head slowly, her heart almost stopped when she came face to face with a huge dog, its eyes gleaming and drool running down its pink, slick, gums.

Cat-Carmen let out a petrified shriek and took off, the beast close on her heels. She could feel its hot, rancid breath beating down on her back legs as it got closer. Then, out of nowhere, the dog struck out at her with one of it's large paws, slicing through the skin and fur on one of her flanks, then flinging her far off to the side. Carmen landed with a screech against a brick wall. She toppled to the ground, slightly dazed and the wind knocked out of her. She could feel the blood seeping out of the large wound on her side and also smell the metallic scent filling her nostrils.

The monster came charging at her again, it's jaws wide open to reveal huge, long, sharp, yellow teeth. Carmen had barley enough time to get out of the way before the beast's skull smashed into the place where she had been just a second ago. As the dog stood there stunned, she scrambled up the wall and crouched down.

The damn beast wasn't going to give up that easily. For a good twenty minutes, it lunged at the wall, trying so hard to get the cat, barking it's head off the entire time. Finally it turned its head so it was looking back down the street. Carmen's ears perked up when she heard the sound of someone calling the dog's name over the rain and wind. The animal barked once more before turning and trotting back down the street.

Carmen half jumped, half slid down the wall. She gritted her teeth as her side sent a jolt of burning pain through her as she landed on her paws. She needed to find someone to help her, and fast.

Limping down the sidewalk, she soon came across a cafe, its windows lit up with a warm golden glow. Dragging herself to the door, Carmen caught sight of the sign as lighting lit up the sky. The sign had the picture of the head of a black cat with yellow eyes. Under the sign, in golden writing, it read: _Cat's Eye._

Carmen peered through the glass door. Four figures stood inside. There was a man, who looked like he was either in his late twenties or thirties, with tanned skin and raven black hair that was all spiked up. Must have been like that naturally. He was extremely tall, compared to the others in the room. His eyes were unlike anything Carmen had ever seen. They were a legitimate blood red. He wore what looked like a hakama, the top a dark blue color, and the bottom pitch black. He wore brown sandals on his feet. A long sword was in its sheath and strapped to his waist (squeal if you're a huge Kurogane fangirl like me XD!)

The second man looked about the firsts age, and only a few inches shorter, coming up to the male's shoulder. He had blond hair with long bangs covering his eyes. His eyes were a light, sky blue color. His skin was pale as snow and he was as skinny as a twig. He looked like he was dressed as a bartender almost, since he was wearing a white button down shirt with a black vest over that. A small, red bow tie was under the shirt's collar. Black pants covered his legs, and brown loafers covered his feet. (squeal if you're a major Fai fangirl XD)

Then there was a boy, who looked like he was about Al's age, or a year younger. He had a head of short, milk chocolate brown hair, a little similar to Carmen's, just without the blond highlights. His eyes were dark brown, and he was wearing black from head to toe. Like the taller, raven haired man, a sheathed sword was strapped to his side. (squeal if you're a big Syaoran fangirl XD)

Finally, the last of the four was a young girl, probably the same age as the boy. She had short, auburn hair that came just above her shoulders. She had a pretty face with eyes that were emerald green, lighter then Carmen's were. She wore something that looked like a maid's outfit. A small, rabbit-like creature was perched on her shoulder. It was in the middle of pissing off the red eyed raven.

Maybe these people could help her. Carmen quickly looked to see if the cafe was empty. When she was positive that the four people inside were the only ones, she took a deep breath and let out a screech. The sudden noise caught the attention of the girl, whose eyes widened as she spotted Carmen, soaking wet and bleeding outside the door. Before she could hear what the girl was going to say, she felt her paws slip from under her. Landing on her side, Carmen closed her eyes and faded into the darkness.

**Post notes-**Whee! That was fun to write! Okay, here is a little back round info on Carmen.

**Carmen Vega was born in Central. When she's about eight, her family moves to Risembool, and she becomes best friends with Ed, Al, and Winry. She's able to perform alchemy (water alchemist means she can transmute water if it's around her. She also has really cool healing abilities.) Her mother dies after she gives birth to Sarah is Risembool when Carmen is 8, so Carmen doesn't have a mom. Then, in the series, Lust kills Carmen's father when she's 15 to try to get to her. Before he dies, he hands her a golden locket, telling her that her mom wanted to give it to her, but never got the chance *teardrop*. Then, Carmen's veins in her right hand get cut off during a brutal fight with the Homunculus when she went after Lust to avenge her father, so it gets amputated, but Winry is nice enough to make her an auto-mail hand. Also, Carmen and Sarah are decedents of this tribe who are half animal spirits, so they have marks and abilities like the animal. Carmen has the mark of the cat and, as Sarah gets older, she gets the mark of the hawk. Sarah discovers later that she's telepathic! *throws confetti* Awesome! Oh yeah, and the teleporting thing? Carmen has this power when she can teleport to places using alchemy :D. Also, in the series, an old woman puts a curse on her, so now she randomly changes into a cat every now and then. That's all I'm telling you so far.**

Read, Review, and Comment, and I'll see you in Chapter 2.

**Your friend, **

**Carmen Veiga**


	2. Chapter 2: The Dream

KawaiiChibiHime33 is responsible for editing these chapters for your enjoyment :).

**Chapter Two: The Dream**

(Carmen's POV)

"Ugh! When is this pain going to end?" I asked myself. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as the open wound sent another painful shock through my body. Then, it slowly, but suddenly subsided.

"What the...?" I asked, confused. Slowly opening my eyes, I was shocked to see a clear blue sky above me. Wasn't it supposed to be night time and raining right now? And why the hell did I feel grass beneath me when I was out cold in front of the cafe?

I slowly sat up, taking note that I was back in my human form. I found myself sitting in a large meadow, similar to the one back in Risembool. Wait, I think this was that meadow. I got to my feet. I was back home, but how? I didn't remember teleporting before I passed out.

"This doesn't make any sense." I told myself.

"Don't fret young one. You will learn why you were sent here."

That voice. I knew who it was before I even turned around. I hadn't heard that voice since I was eight. "Mom?" I whispered. I slowly turned around until I came face to face with a tall, blonde haired woman with dark, brown eyes, wearing a pale blue dress with a white apron over it, and a light smile on her face.

"MOM!" I screamed happily. I started running toward her. She held out her arms as I ran into them, even though I was almost as tall as her. I then broke down into tears, happy to be in my mother's arms again. She kissed me on my tear stained cheek. She then broke our embrace. I clung onto her hand, never wanting to let go.

"I've missed you so much! I thought I would never see you again." I whimpered. I was acting like a little kid, but I didn't care.

Mom smiled. "I've always been with you, my brave alchemist. I've watched over you, ever since the day I left you. You've done a wonderful job, taking care of your sister, helping Edward and Alphonse, and keeping your promise to protect the ones you love with the Ivory Blade."

Her eyes then traveled to my locket. They were tinged with sadness. "I see that Raion finally gave you the gift." she replied.

At the mention of Dad's name, my hand quickly flew to my neck, gripping the heart. I cast my eyes downward. "I sometimes feel so lost without him." I answered quietly. Tears filled my eyes and ran down in trails on my cheeks.

Mom gently cupped my chin in her hand and she tilted it back upward so I was looking straight into her eyes. "Your father loved both you and your sister, Carmen. He would go to any length to protect his daughters." she told me gently. She then used her other hand to wipe away the tears forming trails down my cheeks.

I nodded, but it still hurt. The feeling that I had the day he was killed by Lust started coming back, like my heart had been ripped right out of me.

My mom let go of my chin and placed both of her hands on my shoulders. "Carmen, I've come to tell you something important. You've been sent to another world. You've been summoned here for a purpose. Your skills are needed to help fight the evil being that lurks in this universe." She then stepped away from me. I watched in horror as she started to fade.

"Wait! You can't leave me! What evil being? Will I see you again?" I cried out, tears starting to form in my eyes again. I wiped them away angrily. I hadn't cried in a long time, and I wasn't going to start now.

"I will visit you in your dreams. Until then, go my alchemist. There are those who wish to meet you when you awaken." With those final words, she faded completely, leaving me alone.

"Mom no, please come back!" I pleaded desperately, but no one came. The meadow then started to fade. I was thrown back into the new world, and back into unconsciousness.

**Post notes-** Okay, short chapter. Anyway here's another installment of Carmen's back story.

**Another gift that Carmen's father gave to her was an important weapon in the Ikora (eye-kora) tribe: The Ivory Blade. It's this pure white dagger with a vine pattern on the hilt. Another Ikora pendent is embedded into the hilt. When someone with Ikora blood cast their hands over it, the magic honed inside of it will make it grow into a long sword (similar to Kurogane's) Carmen has the mark of the cat, so she's a natural born fighter. She's also very fast and is very agile. Another thing is that Carmen's auto mail hand has a gun and a small little dagger in it, so when she's fighting she can transmute her hand into a gun or dagger any time she wants. Also, she wears a belt of daggers around her waist. She only uses the gun if it's absolutely necessary, or if brute force is needed :).  
**

Read, Review, and Comment, and I'll see you in Chapter 3.

**Your friend,**

**Carmen Veiga**


	3. Chapter 3: The Country of Outo

**Author's notes- **Hooray! Chapter 3! This is when Carmen meets the others. Also, someone in the Tsubasa gang finds out about Carmen's past a little into the chapters. Just to tell you, my friend, KawaiiChibiHime33, is going to be my editor for these chapters before they're posted, so give credit to her too. So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

**Chapter Three: The Country of Outo**

"Shouldn't the kitty have woken up by now?"

"Mokona, the cat passed out from that huge wound. It might take a while for her to wake up."

"I hope she's okay."

"She's going to be fine princess. After all, you were the only one who saw her outside. When she wakes up, we'll all take care of her."

"I don't see why we're taking in a filthy stray. Who knows how much disease is in that thing right now."

"Now Big Puppy, there's no need to be harsh to a cute kitty like her."

"Who the HELL are you calling Big Puppy you stupid mage!"

"Quiet Kuro-puu. I think she's waking up."

Carmen's cat ears twitched as she slowly opened her eyes. After the blinding golden light left her vision, she was surprised to see four people standing over her. She then noticed they had dressed her wound for her.

"Hooray! The kitty's awake!" shouted a high pitched voice happily. Carmen turned her head to find what looked like a white manju bun wearing a small pink apron around her middle standing next to her. Both of her ears were so long that they touched the counter top (where Carmen was laying on her stomach). Something that looked like an earring hung from the creature's right ear. Not to mention the abnormally large feet. To top it off, a red, round looking gem looked attached to her forehead. There was also the fact that this thing could talk, which Carmen had no idea they could do.

"Well, it looks like someone had a good nap." Carmen looked up and came face to face with the blond haired male dressed as a bartender. He had a wide grin on his face and his blue eyes sparkled in welcome. He then gestured to the others for introductions.

"The young man here in the black is Syaoran, also commonly known in this world as Little Puppy. The lovely young lady next to him is Princess Sakura, or Little Kitty. This sullen fellow in black is our Kurgy-pie, or Big Puppy. I am Fai D. Flowright, otherwise known as Big Kitty. This little white cutie next to you is Mokona." "Nice to meet you! Yup yup!" said the manju bun.

Syaoran and Sakura gave her welcoming smiles, while Kurogane grunted. But, realizing what Fai had just called him, yelled "Kurogane you idiot, Kurogane!" Fai just laughed.

"I highly doubt it understands what you're saying. It's a dumb animal for God's sake!" Kurogane continued, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Carmen's eyebrow twitched with annoyance. She'd show him a dumb animal! Carefully getting into a sitting position, she took a deep breath and answered, in human speech, "It's nice to meet you all. My name is Carmen Vega."

The room went completely silent as everyone (except Fai, who continued to smile in a goofy manner) stared, with their jaws hanging open, in bewilderment at the now speaking cat. "_Take that Kurogane." _Carmen thought to herself, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

The stunned silence was finally broken when Syaoran spoke.

"It's nice to, uh, meet you Miss Vega." said Syaoran feeling slightly awkward talking to a cat.

Suddenly, a strange sensation came over Carmen. It told her that she was going to change back into her human form if she didn't get off the counter. She jumped lightly to the floor, and waited patiently as golden light consumed her. Back in her human form, she laughed as four bewildered faces looked back at her(Fai, again strangely continued to smile, which was starting to freak her out a little bit.)

"Okay, that's enough staring everyone. Anyway, like I said, My name is Carmen Vega. As you can see, I just changed from a cat to a human. Don't worry, that only happens once in a while." she reassured them casually.

"Well, we're happy to have someone like you in our cafe, Carmen. If you don't mind, would you mind telling us were you're from?" Fai asked her curiously.

Carmen's smile fell slightly. "Well, if you want to know, I'm actually from another world. My homeland is this place called Risembool. By the way, where am I?"

This time, Syaoran answered. "Your in Outo country. We just got here two days ago, so like you, we're all pretty new here." he explained.

"Carmen, do you have anywhere to stay?" Sakura asked her quietly.

The alchemist mentally kicked herself. She had been so busy trying to find help for her wound, she hadn't thought about that. "Not really..." she began when out of no where, Mokona landed on her head. "You can stay here with us! Can she Fai, please?" the manju pleaded.

"Sure, I don't see why not. We have a spare room. Your welcome to stay with us." Fai offered cheerfully.

"Oh no! It's fine! I can find somewhere else to stay." Carmen answered. She didn't want to make a pain of herself.

"Nonsense! You can stay here as long as you need to." he urged.

"Well, ok. Thank you." she accepted reluctantly, which caused an excited squeal from Mokona.

"Hooray! New members to the family!" Mokona cried out in delight.

Kurogane, who hadn't said anything in the past five minutes, muttered quietly, but loud enough for only Carmen to hear, "Great, just what we need. More baggage to drag around." Carmen was hurt by the comment, but chose to ignore it. Instead, she bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you, everyone. I'll try not to be a nuisance."

* * *

A few hours later, Carmen was laying on her back in bed, in her new bedroom. The five of them and Mokona had eaten a quick dinner and had gone straight to they're rooms afterwords. It was then that Carmen was able to explain a little more about how she got to Outo, how she was an alchemist, about Risembool and her world, a little info about the Ikora tribe, since Sakura had questioned her about the cat mark on her left arm, and why she had an automail hand instead of a real one.

Fai had then explained what they were doing in Outo. They were looking for a white feather, and important item that belonged to Princess Sakura. They then told her how Sakura had lost her memory, and how the four of them were working hard to retrieve every one until her wings were complete. That then turned to the part of the story of how they had all met. Fai had wanted to leave his world because of personal reason of his own, Syaoran and Sakura had left their world to find the feathers, and Kurogane had been sent away from his world because of slight troubles he caused back home.

Kurogane made Carmen very confused. Why did he make that remark when they met? She hadn't done anything to anger or annoy him, had she? Maybe the ninja was going to be one of those people who was, and always would be, hard to figure out.

Carmen's mind then switched back to her world. What was happening right now? Was everyone frantically looking for her after her disappearance? How was Sarah coping? Would she think she was safe even when her older sister was gone? Carmen had always protected Sarah. She had promised her father the night of his death that she would.

Pushing the thoughts out of her head, Carmen turned on her side, closed her eyes, and faded into the darkness.

**Post notes- **Another chapter done. And you know what that means. Time for another instalment of Carmen's backround info :D.

**Inside Carmen's locket is a picture of her, her mother, and her father. It was taken a year before her mother died. Carmen never shows the picture to anyone (sort of like Ed and his silver watch.) Also, you might want to know what Carmen looks like when she was little, and when she was fifteen. Have a picture of young Winry in your head, with her ponytail hairstyle and everything. Now, picture her with light brown hair and green eyes. That's what young Carmen looks like. Now, 15 year old Carmen has her bangs grown out, and her hair is just down and it goes halfway down her back. Her wardrobe consist of white tank tops, t-shirts, cargo pants, jeans, always the combat boots, and sometimes sneakers. Oh, and she has this awesome brown winter coat, sort of like a _North Face_, except without the logo. Oh yeah, and in cat form, Carmen's fur is this milk chocolate color, but her paws (she's missing a fourth one cause of her automail hand) are tan, the tip of her tail is tan, and her muzzle is tan. Around her neck is the marking of her necklace, chain and heart, in a tan color. Kay, that's all I'm gonna tell you.**

Read, review, and comment, and I'll see you in chapter four.

**Your Friend,**

**Carmen Viega**


	4. Chap 4: Registration,Outfits,and Guitars

**Author's notes- **Chapter Four! *happy dance*. Once again, my personal editor, KawaiiChibiHime33, is responsible for editing these chapters for your enjoyment! :3. So, Carmen got off to a rough start with Kurogane. What will happen? Will Kurgy accept her? Will KawaiiChibiHime33 stop acting so hyper? (*Sooory* Hey Tsubasa Alchemist fans! I'm Carmen Veiga's editor! She's at my house right now using my laptop. Hope you like the story! I need to go right now, but hopefully you'll hear from me again soon! *bye bye!*)-End of message from KawaiiChibiHime33- On with the story!

**Chapter Four: Registration, Outfits, and Guitars**

Early the next morning, Fai and Carmen set off for City Hall. Fai told her that they would have to register her name and occupation if she was to use Outo's services.

When they arrived at the registration desk, Fai picked up a pen and filled out the form, shielding it from Carmen's view. The alchemist tried to look over the magician's shoulder, but he wouldn't let her see. Finally, Fai handed the form to the woman behind the desk, she thanked him and gave Carmen a disc shaped like a cherry blossom, which was her "credit card." Fai then put his hands behind his head, and walked casually out the door with Carmen following.

"Fai, what did you write down, and why didn't you show me?" she asked while putting her cherry blossom platelet in her pocket.

"I wasn't sure how you would react to the name I gave you. If you're anything like Kuro-puu, you'll blow up at me as soon as you hear it," he explained, a mischievous smile spreading across his facial features.

"Oh, come on. I won't be that mad," the alchemist said. Like she would have an explosive temper like Kurogane, of which she had seen the previous night when Mokona had been annoying him, along with the occasional teasing comment from Fai.

Fai shrugged and said, "We can use your real name, but don't you think it's more fun to use aliases? So I put down that you're name was Rubi,"

Carmen was quiet for a moment, then squeaked, "Rubi?"

Fai nodded and smiled. "The name seemed to fit you,"

After thinking to herself for a bit, Carmen gave him a small smile. "I like it,"

Next, they stopped at a nearby clothes shop. Carmen was fitted into many different outfits. She winced at the frills on the tons of dresses she put on one after another. The employee at the store seemed to be on her last strand of energy trying to find something Carmen liked. Then Carmen noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Something bright trying to catch her attention.

Carmen wondered how she hadn't seen it before. Across the store's main room hung what looked like a yukata, colored a deep, rich red, with some camellia flower embroidery on the edge of the sleeves. This dress' design seemed so simple, yet so well-crafted, Carmen couldn't resist it.

_"It reminds me a bit of Kurogane's eyes. Red, like the color of blood on a battlefield." _thought Carmen.

"That dress suits you," said Fai from behind her. This pulled Carmen out of her head. "Would you like to try it on?"

"Oh, um, ah, yes. Yes I would," replied Carmen clearing her head of her thoughts.

She wrapped the yukata around her, and tied it with the sash that it came with. The long dress fell past her knees and down just above her ankles.

"Here," she heard Fai say from behind her, "Try this," He came up behind her with something shiny in his hand. He pulled back a bit of her hair, and clipped it up with a red jeweled clip with more camellias on it. The new hairstyle made Carmen's hair flip up and bounce when she walked.

Carmen looked at herself in the mirror. She was a bit surprised at how different she looked. Wearing this dress made her feel more grown up. This immediately made her think of her mother. Daniella had always wanted her to wear something nice like this, but Carmen, being the headstrong tomboy type when she was growing up, had always turned her back on ribbons and curls. A hollow feeling filled Carmen. She quickly pushed the feeling away before she could start crying. She then picked out a pair of brown sandals to match.

As Fai paid for the outfit, Carmen slipped her blue cloak over her shoulders, attaching both folds of the fabric with the blue pendent. It's engraved water symbols shone in the light. The employee that had been helping them smiled a meek, tired smile, glad Carmen finally chose something.

The magician then left the shop, with the young alchemist following close behind. Carmen was intrigued by this world. Who would of thought that there was another universe just beyond hers. Then, she froze in her tracks. Something had caught her eye across the street. Fai kept walking, unaware that his companion had stopped. After finally noticing, he stopped and turned around to look at her. "Carmen? What is it?" he asked.

Carmen turned her head back to him. "You go on ahead, Fai. I need to check on something." she told him. Fai was quiet for a few moments, then replied, "You know the way back to the cafe, right?" Carmen gave him a small nod. Fai smiled and continued walking down the sidewalk.

She waited until he turned the corner before crossing the street and entering an antique shop. A soft, golden light lit up the store. Dishes, bowls, and copper kettles lined the shelves. Lamps and vases sat on table tops, their glossy surfaces catching the light. Wooden chairs with strange, but well crafted designs surrounded the tables. But the thing Carmen had her eye on was right in front of her, sitting up in it's dark blue case; a wooden guitar.

She walked forward and delicately took the instrument in her hands, like it would crumble into dust as soon as she touched it. She held the guitar neck in a light hold. A beautiful full sound filled the store as she gently strummed the strings.

Suddenly, something resurfaced. A memory. Memories of the days back in Central. When her mother first taught her how to play the guitar, back when she was only six. A tear then slid down her cheek. She gripped her locket. This was exactly why she had locked away Daniella's guitar back home. It was just another burden to remind her of that horrible afternoon; the afternoon of her mom's death.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when the employee at the counter asked, "Are you alright Miss?"

Carmen quickly brushed away her tears with the back of her hand. She then brought the guitar and it's case over to the counter. She slowly took her credit card out of her pocket. Without another thought, she quickly paid for the instrument with some money the group had transferred onto her sakura card(Editors note-Sakura=Cherry blossom).

The water alchemist slowly walked down the sidewalk, carrying her guitar close. She soon started to come closer to _Cat's Eye_. A thought then came to her head. "_Damn! How am I going to hide this?" _she thought, clenching her teeth.

She was now outside the cafe, hiding behind a nearby bush, so that Fai and Sakura wouldn't catch sight of her. Her heart was pounding with nervousness. Why hadn't she thought of this before she bought the guitar? Why had she even bought this guitar in the first place!

Her thoughts were then interrupted when she heard the sound of someone cheerfully singing. She peered over the bush to see Mokona singing a made up tune and sweeping the front steps with a self-made leaf broom.

"_Psst! _Mokona!" Carmen whispered.

"Huh?" the manju bun asked aloud. Then, seeing Carmen behind the bush, she squealed happily and hopped quickly over. "Carmen! Oops! I mean, Rubi-chan! What are you doing back here?" Mokona asked in her excited, high pitched voice.

"Shh!" Carmen exclaimed putting a finger to her lips.

"Sorry." Mokona whispered, making an adorably cute pouting face that made Carmen feel a little bad about snapping at her.

Carmen then showed her the guitar. "You know what this is, right?" she asked.

"Yup yup! I sure do! It's a guitar, and it makes pretty sounds, just like the piano in the cafe!" Mokona said excitedly.

"Good, because I need you to help me hide it,"

"What?"

"I need you to help me hide it."

"But, why? You didn't steal it, did you?" Mokona asked in a shocked tone.

Carmen's eyes widened. "No! Of course not!" she exclaimed.

Mokona smiled. "Then, what's the use of hiding it?"

"It's... a little too complicated to explain right now," Carmen explained quietly. "Do you know someplace where I can hide this for the time being?"

"Of course I do! Watch this!" Mokona then opened her mouth up, and shockingly wide. A sudden sucking wind came from it. Carmen watched in horror as the case, with the guitar in it, was jerked out of her hand and sucked into Mokona's mouth!

"Mokona! You ate my guitar!" she whispered

The manju shook her head. "I just stored it inside of me. Just one of my 108 secret talents:Storage!"

Carmen stared at Mokona for a few moments longer, then shook her head to clear it. "Fine, but you can't tell anyone that your holding onto that, or that I bought it." she told her.

"Deal! And make sure to play it for me once in a while. I'd love to listen to you play a pretty song!" Mokona exclaimed. She then proceeded to jump on Carmen's shoulder as she stood up and walked through the door to the cafe.

Fai and Sakura both looked up as the door opened. A wide grin spread across the blond's face as Carmen walked in with Mokona.

"Look who I found on her way back!" Mokona said, waving her small paws back in forth happily.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Fai asked Carmen.

"Unfortunately, no." she replied.

Fai shrugged. "Your outfit is near the door. Go change into it and then you can help us with some work."

Carmen thanked him and picked up the bag. She headed into her room to change. Tying on the sash, she slipped her feet out of the combat boots and into her sandals. She carefully pinned back her hair so it would look like it did back in the shop. It wasn"t quite as neatly done as Fai's job in the store. She was baffled at how good he could put up hair for a guy, compared to Carmen who didn't exactly have experience with hairstyles. She then folded her shirt, pants, and cloak in a neat little stack and put it on her bed, leaving her boots and dagger belt on the floor.

Fai then set her to work. She helped Sakura set tables, helped Fai with some of the cooking, helped Mokona with the cleaning, and a lot of other things. Carmen then noticed that she hadn't seen any sign of Kurogane or Syaoran on her way back.

"Do you guys know where Kurogane and Syaoran went?" she asked them.

"They left for training a little while after you left for City Hall. Kurogane is teaching Syaoran how to fight with a sword." Sakura told her.

Jealousy began to gnaw at her. It had been a while since Carmen had practiced any combat with her daggers, or even the Ivory Blade for that matter. Kurogane and Syaoran were Oni hunters, and that meant they could go and fight. Carmen wished she was out there with them too, instead of just working in the cafe.

"_Well, I haven't fought anything for a while, so I might be a little out of practice. But, Fai needs more help to run the cafe and take care of Sakura, with her having lost her memory and stuff. Besides, I don't want Kurogane thinking that I'm some annoying little tag along." _Carmen thought to herself. From what Carmen had seen of Kurogane, he was the black sheep of the group. He had a big mouth, and it annoyed her sometimes that he would yell so much.

The two Oni hunters came back late that night. Syaoran arrived with a thin rip in the front of his shirt, which Sakura jumped right in at questioning him if he was alright at the sight of it. He assured her with a gentle smile that he was, and that he has a long way to go in his sword training. Fai served everyone dinner, which Carmen thought was pretty good. Everyone shared news of what happened during the course of the day. Kurogane, for some reason, stayed quiet for most of the meal, though Mokona and Fai flared up his temper with the silly nicknames and usual teasing.

Later that night, Carmen was curled up in bed. Mokona, who decided it was the alchemist who she was going to sleep with tonight, was cuddled up in the crook of Carmen's elbow, snoring softly. The little manju reminded Carmen a little bit of Black Hayate, Lieutenant Hawkeye's sweet black and white dog back home.

The alchemist slowly shifted to her back, careful not to wake Mokona. She had this weird feeling that had been sitting in her stomach for most of the afternoon. Was it homesickness? She certainly felt homesick. She couldn't stop thinking of Sarah, Winry, Ed, and more importantly... Al.

Why was she thinking of him so much lately anyway? He was just a friend, right? But now, every time she thought of him. His brown, gentle eyes, sweet smile, and his comforting voice, she felt happier inside. That had never happened before.

Pushing away the thought, she let her eyes close as she drifted off to sleep.

**Post notes-** Wow, long chapter. Here's another installment of history. It's kind of short though.

**Al actually, when they were little, developed a crush on Carmen when they first met. Then he kind of forgets it when they get older. But, in the "movie," he then realizes he still has feelings for her. Then, she finally realizes she feels the same way. That's why she doesn't realize why she feels this way when she thinks of Al.**

I think this will probably be the last installment. (Hey Tsubasa Alchemist fans- KawaiiChibiHime here. I'm Carmen Veiga's editor if you didn't already know. You should be hearing more from me soon hopefully. Carmen and I are working hard to get these chapters to you as soon as we can. Please take care of us! Until next time!-)See you in Chapter Five!

**Your friend,**

**Carmen Veiga**


	5. Chapter 5: Swords and Oni

**Author's notes**- Yayz! Chapter Five! This story is really fun to write. KCH33 and I are coming up with really good ideas for future chapters, and I absolutely can't wait to write them! Now that I think of it, I was sort of debating if I should have either let Carmen come to Outo, or get sent to Yuko(The Dimensional Witch-Main character from xxxHolic, a series that crosses over with Tsubasa) like the gang does in the first chapter. Yeah, I know, kind of hard to choose, since Outo is like my favorite world that they go to in season one. *head/desk.* BTW, does anyone know what Carmen's name means? Well. Here's the definition:

**Carmen- **A male or female given name: from a Latin word meaning "song". (I love that name so much ^^)

**Vega- **Spanish dramatist and poet. (Pretty sweet huh?)

-Hey guys! KawaiiChibiHime33 here! Hopefully I'll be able to talk to you more often now. A little info about my name too: "Kawaii" means cute in Japanese. "Chibi means small, or little(there are also many other variations on the meaning, but I really don't feel like listing them). "Hime" means princess, thus my name is "cute little princess." Also, 3 is my lucky number, so I put it twice after my name. OK! Continue Carmen!-

Anyway, both of us are aware that what happens in this chapter **NEVER **happens in either the manga or anime (We're gonna be following the anime for this story if you're wondering.) I'll explain why I wrote this chapter in the Post Notes at the end. Now without further adieu, let the chapter commence!

KawaiiChibiHime33 is responsible for editing these chapters for your enjoyment ^_^ ~Hyuu, Hyuu!~ *vanishes*

Oh wait, I lied. *reappears*

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa, or FMA. If I did there would be SO many more Kurofai moments, more SyaoSakura moments, AND I would have actually added in Carmen to the FMA series.**

**Okay, now I leave. *snaps fingers and disappears in a puff of smoke.*  
**

**Chapter Five: Swords and Oni**

It was cold and pouring rain out the next evening. Fai, Sakura, Carmen, and Mokona had closed up for the night and were hanging around. Kurogane and Syaoran were out. _"Probably hunting Onis." _Carmen thought with envy.

"I wonder what's taking Syaoran and Kurga-Lurga so long to get back. They've never been out this late before." Fai said aloud.

"I hope nothing's wrong." Sakura worried. Carmen had noticed that Sakura always seemed very concerned whenever the subject of Syaoran and Kurogane hunting Oni came up, or rather, when Syaoran was talked about. She would often look like she was about to cry. She would stop talking normally to them, and try to pretend everything was alright.

"They're fine. They've probably killed the Oni by now and are on their way back." Carmen reassured her. Now that they mentioned it, she was a little worried. For Syaoran, of course. Kurogane could take care of himself. That, she was sure of.

"The Puppy Pair"**(1)** are great fighters, Sakura-chan! They go out and beat the deamons, so brave so brave!" Mokona chirped from where she was sitting on the counter, drying a plate. She was helping Carmen with washing the dishes.

"Yeah," said Sakura sighing, "I guess you're right."

At hearing this, Carmen turned around to look at Sakura, which also caused her to be the only one who saw the warm, content smile she put on her lips, which then formed the name "Syaoran." Carmen perked her ears up. Sakura said it again, still smiling, and also closing her eyes happily dreaming, as she whispered the name to herself again. This time Carmen heard it clearly with her fairly strong hearing abilities. "_My, my, what do we have here?" _Carmen thought to herself. _"A little romance in our small little group?"_

Then, just as Mokona handed Carmen the last plate, a high pitched scream split the air. Carmen stiffened, her eyes growing wide. She looked to the side. Fai, Sakura, and Mokona continued to chat away happily. They hadn't heard the scream, but Carmen had, thanks to her super senses that had been gifted to her from the mark of the cat. It also helped that she was honing in on Sakura's conversation with herself.

She quickly put the plate in the cupboard a stood up, her heart pounding. Fai was the first one to notice the fear in the alchemist's jade green eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

Carmen didn't answer. Instead, she made a beeline to the door. A huge gust of rain and wind blew in her face as she threw it open.

"Carmen-chan! What's the matter!" Mokona yelled.

"I'll be right back," was all she told them before sprinting out into the darkness, her friends calls getting lost in the wind.

The alchemist ran down the dark street, heading for an outcrop of trees at the end. She recognized that scream far to well. It belonged to none other than Syaoran! Sakura sure wasn't going to like this.

* * *

It was difficult for her to see in the rain, but Carmen was able to navigate herself through the trees using her senses. With great speed and agility, she silently flew through the darkness, like a shadow in the night. Her senses led her to the edge of the "forest", and into an open area. Carmen quickly hid in the shadow of the tree in front of her. When she slowly looked out, her eyes widened in horror at what she saw.

A huge Oni, bigger then she had ever imagined, was standing right in the center of the clearing. Kurogane was standing in front of it, holding himself and sword in a fighting stance. His blood red eyes burned with both anger and adrenaline of the fight. Syaoran was over to the far right of the clearing. He was slumped against the trunk of a Sakura tree and holding his stomach. Carmen let out a small gasp as she saw scarlet blood dripping through his fingers and onto the rain sodden ground. The deamon must have wounded him pretty badly. There was no way in hell that Kurogane could take on something that powerful. She had to help them, fast.

She stepped away from the trunk, making sure to stay in the shadows. She took a deep breath in and exhaled as she clapped her hands together. Blue sparks flew from her hands and smoke rose around her feet her as Carmen pressed them against the wet ground. The rain falling around her body stopped, suspended in mid-air. The rain drops then sped toward her hands. The smoke cleared, revealing Carmen had transmuted a huge ice spear out of the rain. She took it and got to her feet, waiting for the right moment. After a few seconds, she threw the spear as hard as she could. The weapon went right through the beast's head, causing pitch black blood to spurt out the other side.

The alchemist's mouth started to slowly turn into a smirk, but stopped herself. Instead of falling over and dying, the deamon slowly reached up and wrapped its long, skinny fingers around the hilt. The spear splintered into ice shards in the Oni's grasp. It then swung its head around, looking for the one who had dared lodged the weapon into its cranium. Carmen slowly unsheathed two of her daggers from her belt and waited.

The Oni must of sensed her presence, because it charged toward her hiding place and swung it's massive tail. Carmen was ready. As soon as the tail was about to hit the trunk, she lunged out and slashed at the beast. It bellowed in rage. It reached out it's long claws in an attempt to grab her. That only resulted in Carmen dodging to the side and attack again. She slid to a halt beside Kurogane as the Oni drew back a few feet.

"What the hell are you doing here alchemist? Last time I checked, Fai didn't sign you up to be an Oni hunter!" Kurogane growled.

Ignoring his hostile tone, Carmen rose to her feet. "What happened to Syaoran-kun? His wound looks pretty serious."

"The bastard Oni clawed him as soon as we started fighting. Why do you care? And how did you find us?" the ninja demanded.

"Super senses," was her only reply.

She quickly made her way over to Syaoran. His face was chalk white now from the pain and the amount of blood he had lost. Carmen made him sit down so she could get a better look at the wound. It wasn't that big, but it was deep, and the blood was coming out pretty heavily.

Carmen gently put her hand over the wound and closed her eyes. Her hand started to glow in a blue light. The blue aura spread over Syaoran's stomach. He gave a small gasp of pain and clenched his fists. After a few minutes, Carmen moved her hand away and the light faded. Her healing abilities left the wound as a scar, but Syaoran was healed. He murmured his thanks as he slowly stood. Carmen supported him by holding onto his arm so he wouldn't fall back down.

Alchemist and Oni hunter then moved forward, flanking Kurogane on both sides. The demon had started to come back. It's ugly, red eyes glared furiously at Carmen.

"You better stay out of this kid," Kurogane muttered to her, still keeping his angered tone. "Daggers can't penetrate the enemy as well as a sword can."

"That's why I have this," from her belt, Carmen took out a pure white dagger, with what looked like a vine design on the hilt. The same Ikora pendent that was on her cloak was embedded into the end of the grip.

She quickly casted her hand over the pendent. The dagger began to glow in a silver light. She spun it in her hand as it began to grow. She then brought it across her her body and into a fighting stance as she now held an ivory long sword in her hands.

Syaoran looked impressed by the blade.

Kurogane pretended not to notice.

The Oni lunged forward, taking a vicious slash at it's opponents. The three of them dodged the attack. Syaoran attacked the beast with a well aimed kick. It caused its arm to split in two, but the beast regenerated so that it was whole again. _"Why doesn't he just use his sword?"_ Carmen thought to herself, striking out with her blade as the Oni came at her again with its tail. _"Kurogane is teaching him how to use it, isn't he?"_

The alchemist ducked as the tail came at her. She swung her sword upward, cutting off the appendage. She got out of the way as a new tail sprouted. _"God damn it! What's it going to take to kill this thing?"_ she thought, gritting her teeth in aggravation.

Clapping her hands together again, Carmen slammed them onto her shining appendage, transmuting her automail hand into a gun. She pulled the trigger and fired a bullet at the beast's head and at it's torso. She swore as her weapon did hardly any damage.

"Where the **_hell_** did you get a gun?" she heard Kurogane's shout from across the battlefield.

"It was built in when I got this hand." she answered as she dodged another one of the Oni's attacks.

"YOU ARE NOT FRIGGEN' OLD ENOUGH TO USE A GUN!" the ninja's pissed off yell answered.

A vein throbbed in the alchemist's temple as she tried to keep herself from blowing a hole through the nihon's skull. He wasn't her father! She could do whatever the hell she wanted!

A sudden flash of light out of the corner of her eye caught Carmen's attention. She turned her head to see Kurogane shouting out an attack. A surge of blue light shot out of his sword and blasted through the demon. It let out an agonized scream before exploding.

Carmen stood there, stunned at what she had just seen. Where had the ninja learned how to do that?

"Carmen!" she heard Syaoran's concerned yell. She turned her head to the brunette. His brown eyes widened in horror. "Carmen, you're bleeding!" he exclaimed.

It was then that the alchemist felt a burning pain race down her arm. She looked down to see the right sleeve to her yukata torn from the top of her forearm to her hand. Dark red blood had spurted from the wound and was dripping onto the rain-sodden ground.

"Well, ain't that a bitch." she said, not really sounding concerned about her wound.

Syaoran on the other hand was completely horrified. "You've lost a lot of blood! Don't you think you should be somewhat worried about that?"

Carmen waved off the younger teen. "You don't need to worry about me, Syaoran-kun. A minor cut like this can be healed easily," with that, she placed her other hand over her arm. Blue light shone for only a few seconds before the alchemist removed her hand and inspected her arm. The wound had disappeared and had been replaced with unbroken skin. She held out her arm for her friend to see. Syaoran just stared but said nothing.

"You still haven't answered my question, kid. Why did you come here when Syaoran and I were fully capable of killing that Oni?" Kurogane's voice sounded behind her. She turned around to see the ninja scowling, arms crossed over his chest.

Carmen frowned. "Like I told you before, I sensed Syaoran's scream when the Oni attacked him. I thought that he was in trouble, so I had to go with my instincts and go help him."

The ninja was silent for a few moments. He turned on his heel and stalked away through the trees. "Let's go home," he growled to his companions.

* * *

Sakura had been worried sick when the three of them had gotten back. But when Syaoran started to explain the reason for their lateness, she became frantic, bombarding the flustered teen with questions asking if he was okay, which he quickly answered trying to calm his princess down. Carmen escaped to the kitchen to make her friends some midnight tea and snacks (mostly to avoid Sakura's questions when the princess had seen the alchemist's ripped yukata.)

It seemed Kurogane was still bothered by the fact that the Oni could regenerate themselves. At first he thought it was just an ability that a higher leveled Oni had, but the other hunters had never experienced anything like it either. They were just as troubled as he was in the matter.

Carmen had listened in on enough of the conversations to know that the Oni were on different levels, depending on their strength. The Oni that they had just fought hadn't even been close to a high enough level to regenerate itself. Maybe it had to do with the rumor about the new Oni. This one was in the form of a man, and he could control the other demons. When she had been serving people their food in the cafe with Sakura, she had overheard them talking about how some of the Onis had been attacking people who weren't Oni hunters. Maybe the two events were linked together somehow.

The alchemist dismissed the thought as she passed cups of tea to her friends and settled down in a chair beside Sakura with her own cup. She drank it silently as she listened intently to the conversation that was being discussed. Her attention was then directed toward Syaoran. The younger teen had turned his gaze on her. His expression told her that he was confused about something other then the Oni problem.

"Is something wrong, Syaoran?" she asked him.

The brunette was silent for a moment, but then said, "Sorry, but there's something I still don't understand. When I was injured, how were you able to heal me so easily without any medicine or anything?"

Carmen stiffened at his question. This was something that had been asked frequently before. She was getting used to telling people, but that didn't mean that she liked explaining it.

"Well, you remember my first day here? When I told you guys how I'm a decendent of the Ikora Tribe?" When Syaoran nodded, Carmen continued. "When I was born, the mark of the cat appeared on my arm. That meant that I was going to have the speed and agility of a feline, but what we didn't know was that I was also going to possess healing abilities. Only the people of the highest class of my ancestors had that power. It hadn't been passed down to any of the pure-blood decendents until I was born," she then reached for one of the daggers on her belt. She took out the Ivory one that she had turned into a sword earlier. "This weapon is called the Ivory Blade. It's been passed down through my tribe for generations from father to son. Since I was my parent's first kid, the blade got passed down to me. Some of my ancestor's were powerful mages in water alchemy, so they combined their magic so that the dagger could turn into a sword and be more powerful." She trailed off for a second before continuing. "I was almost denied the right to the sword when I was younger."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked her curiously.

"There's a law that all members of the Ikora tribe _have_ to live by. It's _forbidden_ to marry a human. My father had to swear to the oath, but he fell in love with my mother who was of the race of man. He refused to leave her, so he had his mark taken away. There's a certain term that is used to identify a child who is half Ikora and half human." The alchemist scowled as she spat out the name like it was poison. "They call people like me _half bloods_."

"Half bloods?" Mokona echoed.

Carmen nodded, anger burning in her eyes. "They judge us for who our parents are or what they did. All the people who were born as pure-bloods look down upon us."

Sakura was now looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Carmen," she whispered.

The alchemist got a panicked look on her face and waved her hand at the princess. "Don't worry about it Sakura-chan. It's no big deal. It happened a long time ago, nothing to be concerned about it now." she reassured her.

Before anybody else could say anything, Fai stood up and stretched. "Well, it's getting pretty late. Why don't we hit the hay for tonight. I have a feeling we're going to be very busy tomorrow. Isn't that right, _Big Puppy_?"

The three younger members of the group sat together in silence as they watched the skinny mage running for his life as a pissed off ninja chased him around the cafe with his sword unsheathed and yelling threats of what he would do when he caught him.

**Post notes- (1) **Haha, yay! The nickname from the Outo arc in the manga!

I'm TERRIBLY sorry that this chapter came out so late! I recently just started another Tsubasa/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover and I've been hooked on it ever since. Finally, I decided that it was time to show a little attention to this neglected story :D. In other news, KCH is currently in Morroco right now (for vacation) and is going to be there all next week. I MISS HER ALREADY! *sadface* Luckily, she's keeping in touch with me through PMs, so I'm happy about that. BUT I STILL MISS HER!

Oh, right. SO, the reason why I wrote this chapter was because I wanted to finally introduce a battle scene, Carmen's alchemy, and the Ivory Blade. Don't worry, the next chapter is going to be on the the anime story line again, I promise you.

Read, Review, and Comment, and I'll see you in Chapter Six!

**Your _Friends_,**

**Carmen Veiga AND KawaiiChibiHime33 :)  
**


	6. Chapter 6: Seishiro

**Author's notes-** And...WE'RE BACK! Well, Summer vacation is coming up in two weeks for me *YAY!* And I, the awesome Carmen-san, will be heading off to High School! *Throws confetti* In other news, KCH33 IS BACK FROM MORROCCO! *throws confetti _again_ and toots horn* LET THE CHAPTER COMMENCE!

**KawaiiChibiHime33 is responsible for editing these chapters for your enjoyment. *sparkles!*  
**

**Disclaimer: **

**CV: You know, I really don't feel like doing the disclaimer today. *snaps fingers* ~Mokona!~**

**Mokona: Yes~ Carmen-chan?**

**CV: Do the disclaimer for me, and I'll get you some sake.**

**Mokona: *eyes widen in excitement* OKAY! Carmen Veiga doesn't own Tsubasa or FMA.**

**CV: Good girl! *gives bottle of sake to Mokona.***

**Kurogane: Thank God for that. Hey, wait a minute! You're not even old enough to buy sake! Not to mention you don't even have any money.  
**

**CV: I know. That's why I got permission from Fai to steal and use your credit card *evil smile*  
**

**Kurogane: MAGE!**

**Fai: Eee hee hee! Kurger-burger's mad! *runs away***

**Kurogane: *runs after him with Souhi***

**CV and KCH33: *sits down on the couch and laughs at the scene while eating popcorn :P***

**KCH33: This is just like the doujinshis we read!**

**CV: I know right? KUROFAI FTW!**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Seishiro**

Bright sunlight filtered through the cafe's windows as late afternoon approached. Fai, Sakura, Carmen, and Mokona were busy tidying up Cat's Eye. They didn't have any customers at the moment, so the four of them had decided to wash the breakfast dishes from the rush hour they had gotten that morning.

"Sakura's working really hard!" Mokona said cheerfully. The princess had worked non-stop all day to help them out.

Finally, the last plate was washed and placed on the counter. "There, all done." Sakura said looking quite pleased with her work.

"Thanks for the help, you two," Fai said thanking Carmen and Sakura.

"Anything else we can help you out with?" Carmen asked him, drying her hands with a dishtowel.

"I think we're good for now. You guys can take a break for awhile if you want." Fai told them with a smile.

"I want to work hard so I feel like I'm contributing something to the group," Sakura said softly. "I can't fight Oni like Syaoran-kun or Kurogane-san, so I need to do the best I can to-" she then stopped in mid sentence. Her eyelids closed and she started to fall backwards.

"Look out!" Mokona cried.

Fai reached out and caught the princess gently by her elbows. He knelt down so that Sakura was safely resting in his arms. Carmen lowered herself down on one knee so that she was positioned next to Fai. Mokona hopped down from the counter to stand at Sakura's side.

"Is she okay?" Carmen asked in a worried tone. She wasn't wasn't used to her younger friend fainting unexpectedly.

"She'll be fine. Sakura-chan just overworked herself, that's all. She'll wake up in a little while." Fai reassured the alchemist.

Carmen sighed in relief, "That's good."

A few minutes later, Sakura was lying on the cafe's couch, fast asleep. Mokona was sitting on the arm rest and Fai was kneeling at the couch's side. Carmen was in the kitchen making herself and the others some tea and snacks. The door was open a little.

"Hey Fai?" Mokona's voice asked.

Carmen's ears perked up. Her hearing abilities honed in on the conversation as she continued making the tea. She knew it wasn't polite to eavesdrop, but what her friends didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Besides, it's not like her sharp ears could really not hear it.

"What is it, little one?" Fai asked.

"Do you remember what you said to Syaoran when we were in the world with that big lake? You told him that if he laughed, smiled, and had fun, no one would think less of him." the manju said quietly.

World with the lake? Jeez, someone really needed to explain about the different worlds to Carmen so she wouldn't get so confused.

"Why are you bringing that up now, Mokona?" the mage asked her curiously.

Carmen could picture the little manju's smile creeping over her face as she continued, "You really need to hear it too, Big Kitty. There won't be any scolding from me or Syaoran or anybody. Be happy!"

Carmen heard a gasp of surprise escape from the blonde. An awkward silence followed. Then, Fai broke the silence.

"But Mokona, I'm always happy!" he said cheerfully.

"That's not true. You smile even when you're feeling sad." Mokona said in a soft tone.

Silence.

"You're a lot more observant than you look." Fai replied gently.

"That's just another one of my 108 secret skills," Mokona explained. "I'm the type of Mokona who can always tell when someone is upset. I can sense it with you, Syaoran, Kuro-puu, and Carmen,"

The alchemist froze. She stood there at the stove with the kettle full of boiled water.

"But, I think the more you travel and be with each other, you all feel a little less lonely. You're all working hard to help Sakura and that's enough." the manju said in a happier tone.

"I think you're right about that, Mokona." Fai said. Mokona gave a little giggle.

Carmen was still standing at the stove. A million things were racing through her mind. Like Mokona, she could also see through Fai's smile. The happy expressions always looked real, but the emotion never did reach his cobalt eyes. They were always sad, and sometimes far away. She always thought she hid it well. _"I guess this kind of sadness could never really be hidden._"

Her mind then switched back to the manju sensing the sadness in her friends. Plenty of sad things had happened to Carmen that made her upset. She just never chose to release her sadness. She didn't want the people around her to be worried. _"I guess I'm similar to Kurogane and Syaoran in that way."_

Shaking her head to clear it, the alchemist walked out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with four mugs of tea and a plate of frosted buns that she'd made that morning. Fai was holding Mokona in his hands. He closed his eyes and smiled as Carmen approached.

"Here's your tea, you guys. I made one for Sakura in case she wants to drink something when she wakes up. And here are the leftovers that I made for breakfast this morning." Carmen said, trying to act like she hadn't been listening to the recent conversation.

"Thanks, Rubi-chan!" Mokona said taking the mug Carmen offered her. She also took a bun and shoved it in her mouth.

The alchemist handed a cup to Fai and picked up her own. She sat down cross legged on the floor and took a sip.

"So, is Sakura fainting a regular thing that happens?" Carmen asked the blonde.

Fai gave her a small smile. "Sometimes. It usually happens if she overworks herself without taking a break," he told her.

"Fai, how's ankle been doing?" the alchemist asked him. She remembered the princess telling her how some Oni had ambushed Fai and Kurogane when they had been going to a bar. Fai had injured his ankle in the fight.

The bell above the front door jingled as it opened, interrupting the wizard's reply.

"Welcome to the Cat's Eye!" the trio announced together.

There was the sound of a cape slicing through the air. Carmen opened her eyes and her smile faltered. In front of them stood a tall man wearing a white, hooded cape. Something about this guy made the alchemist feel uneasy.

She felt Fai stiffen next to her. He then quickly closed his eyes and put the mask smile back on, "Actually sir, you wouldn't mind coming back a little later, would you?"

An evil smile crept across the man's face. "Just tell me where the Oni hunters are," he said.

Fai's smile turned down completely and his eyes opened up into a frown.

The trio stayed there in silence, glaring at the newcomer. Something suddenly caught Carmen's attention. A flash of blue light illuminated the stranger's right dark brown eye. Carmen gave a small gasp.

"Mokona, stay here with Sakura." Fai told the manju. Mokona nodded.

Fai slowly got to his feet. Carmen followed suit. Like a reflex, her right hand slowly wrapped around the hilt on one of her sheathed daggers. There was the noise of metal clanking as her grip tightened around her weapon.

Fai walked toward the hooded man, Carmen trailing behind him. A small smile crossed over his face. "Hello sir. Can my friend Rubi and I seat you at a table?" he asked him casually.

"No thank you. I'm actually looking for the two Oni hunters who live here." the stranger answered.

"Unfortunately for you, they're out right now." Fai explained, keeping his voice calm.

"Really? You're positive that you're not a hunter yourself?" the man asked.

"Not me. I'm just a regular cafe' manager." Fai answered, closing his eyes and grinning.

The stranger's attention then directed to Carmen. His gaze rested on the dagger belt around her waist and the automail hand wrapped around the hilt. "What about you young lady? Someone carrying that powerful a weapon would definitely have the fighting skills of an Oni hunter." he questioned.

Swallowing down her nervousness, Carmen tried to keep her voice calm like Fai's, "No. I'm just a waitress who helps run the cafe' with my friend, Big Kitty here."

The man was silent for a few moments. He then continued, addressing both of them, "You're here running a cafe' when the two of you possess all of that magic and alchemy?"

Carmen stiffened. Her grip tightened around her dagger. How the hell did he know about her being an alchemist? No one int he group had come from her world.

Fai was silent for a few moments, keeping the mask up and acting like this random guy hadn't just told him that he knew who he really was. However, Carmen could sense nervousness rolling off in waves from the blonde. He then opened his eyes and replied calmly, "But that's beside the point. Why are you here for the Puppy Pair?"

A shadow then started to rise up around the stranger. Carmen gasped as two huge Oni took their forms. "Why, I intend to get rid of them, of course."

The blonde wizard looked calmly at the beasts before continuing, "So... you're this "Seishiro" who Syaoran told us so much about."

"_Seishiro?" _Carmen thought warily.

"And just how do you know Syaoran?" Seishiro asked.

"My friend here and I have been traveling with him and a few others for sometime now."

"He can travel between dimensions now?" the raven-haired man asked. "He didn't have that gift the last time I saw him. He met up with the witch, didn't he?"

Fai opened his eyes. "You can travel too," he replied.

Seishiro brought his fingers to his right eye. "Correct. I had to give her my eye. In its place she gave me this magical one. It enhances my own magic and lets me travel from world to world."

Something clicked in Carmen's head. "That kind of magic is limited, right? You can only use it a certain number of times." she said quietly remembering the old ledgends that she was told to by her mother when she was a kid.

Fai tilted his head. "And that means that they're are a certain number of worlds you can go to."

"So you see, because of my restrictions, I can't afford any missteps, can I? And I'm afraid you and your friends are unfortunately a liability!"

One of the demons suddenly lunged forward at Fai and Carmen. Jumping out of the way, the alchemist went to draw her dagger, but the beast batted her aside like a fly. She flew across the room and crashed against the couch, letting out a cry of pain as she did so. She was about to get back up, but her body suddenly started to shine with a familiar glow.

"_No._ No, this _can't _be happening now!" she cried. Her form then turned from a human back into a cat.

Carmen watched helplessly as Fai back flipped, dodging another attack. He landed on the bar, but not without twisting his injured ankle slightly. The alchemist sensed the cracking noise and the blonde's pained grunt.

"Fai! Your ankle!" she cried from her position on the floor.

"Stay and protect Mokona and Sakura. Don't move from that spot!" he ordered firmly. Carmen was a little surprised at his command, but nodded in response.

"Seems like your friend is concerned for your injury," Seishiro commented. "Wouldn't it be easier to use magic to protect yourself and put her mind at ease?"

"Naturally I would," Fai said, "but I gave up using my powers after I left my home."

"Well...it looks like you're as good as dead."

A moment of silence passed between the two.

The cloaked man's eyes narrowed. "That's what you were hoping was for, wasn't it?"

Carmen was shocked. Fai wanted to die! _"But, why?"_ she thought.

Fai smiled. "It was like that in the beginning. But then a tempermental friend of mine changed my mind.

(A/N: _**KUROFAI!**_)

"I'm not giving up on myself anymore. I won't let you kill me... at least not without one heck of a fight."

Seishiro was silent for a few moments. He then raised his hand and an orb of dark magic appeared in it. Trapped inside was a white feather with a strange pink marking.

The alchemist's eyes widened. "_That must be Sakura-chan's feather!" _she thought.

Fai, who was frowning again, spoke to her. "Carmen, you _need_ to stay out of this fight. If anything happens to me, you and Mokona have to find Syaoran. It's critical that he knows about the feather."

Carmen felt like she was going to cry, realizing the reason for the blonde's words. "Fai. No...please!" she whimpered.

The feather started glowing. The wizard turned away from the alchemist, a look of determination on his face.

"Say goodbye, wizard." Seishiro sneered. The Oni lunged once again. Fai lept upwards and delivered a kick to the demon's face. He landed on one of the tables and jumped again as the second Oni went for him. He reached for the dart board and threw the remaining darts that he had, even though it didn't do any good. He was only on the table for a few seconds before it happened.

The beast lunged.

Fai gasped.

A red bow tie flew into the air_._

_**"FAI!"**_

* * *

Carmen screamed. Her friend's legs were now hanging limply out of the demon's jaws.

Mokona started crying uncontrollably. Carmen just stood there shocked with her eyes wide, starting to overflow with tears themselves.

Seishiro, who now had a sickening grin on his face, held up the feather. A blinding light illuminated the cafe. Mokona started screaming in terror. Carmen squeezed her eyes shut and huddled against the couch.

A few moments past when she finally opened her eyes. The cafe was a complete wreck. Huge gaping holes were in the walls, and everything was overturned. Carmen, realizing she was back in her human form, stared at the couch, her breathing heavy, her eyes still enlarged, and desperately holding on to tears.

Seishiro had murdered Fai. And she hadn't been able to stop him.

Tears started to burn her eyes and it made her vision blurred, but for once she didn't try to stop herself. Squeezing her eyes shut, she gripped the couch cushion and lowered her forehead to it, letting the howls and sobs she had held in for so long out, with tears falling down her face in hot trails. This was all _too_ familiar to her! She hated it. Memories from that night forced themselves back into her mind: Flames illuminating the sky, the choking stench of smoke, and the feeling of _his _hand becoming lifeless and cold in her grip. The image of Lust's _sick_ smirk flashed in her mind. It was the smirk Seishiro had. The look of a killer.

The tears stopped coming. Her hands slowly clenched into fists. Her dark jade eyes seemed to glow as they opened, the familiar look of fury being the expression that she held.

She slowly stood up, angrily wiping the tears from her face. She unclasped her locket and put it around Mokona's neck. Even though the manju was unconscious, she knew that her friend would know she was alive when she woke up.

Carmen took off through the huge hole in the wall, her sandals clacking against the cobblestones. She had to hunt that bastard down and kill him before he took another innocent life.

It didn't take the alchemist long to find her friend's killer. She easily followed the path of the same destruction that Seishiro caused in the cafe. It led her into a small park. The sky had turned ink black as night had arrived. The moon was full, and dark red.

Carmen walked under the various cherry blossom trees, keeping her ears pricked. Coming to a clearing, she spotted Seishiro a few feet away. He was positioned under one of the Sakura trees, his demon henchmen around him. The princess' feather was in his hand, floating in the orb of dark magic.

The brown-eyed man turned his head in her direction as he heard her approaching. "Well... looks like I should have taken care of you when I had the chance." he muttered.

"Shut the hell up!" the alchemist snapped. "You just murdered an innocent man in cold blood. How can you live with yourself!" The words that she was yelling sounded familiar too.

Seishiro was silent for a few moments. "I said that I would rid myself of anybodywho got in my way, and the mage tried to stop me," his eyes then narrowed. "What are you going to do about it, alchemist?"

By now, the Ivory Blade had been transformed into a sword. "I won't let you get away with this. I'll kill you before you leave here, you bastard!" yelled an infuriated Carmen.

The Oni then attacked. The alchemist dodged before slicing up a few demons with her sword. She managed to sever a head from its owner's shoulders when the dead creatures regenerated. "_Fuck!" _Carmen cursed mentally. (A/N: Hehe, sorry! Just had to put that in XD)

Clapping her hands together, Carmen slammed them onto the ground. Giant cracks erupted through the earth's surface as the Oni one by one exploded as they were engulfed in the scalding hot water coming from under the earth's surface.

The alchemist then turned to Seishiro. The man was standing in the center of the clearing, his demons killed.

"I underestimated you, kid," he began, "You're a lot stronger than the mage, or even Syaoran for that matter." At that moment, an Oni in the form of what looked like a large hawk, landed on his shoulder.

"If I'm stronger than they were, why the hell won't you fight me yourself?" she growled. She let out a surprised gasp as the hawk-demon turned into a huge sword.

"Because I didn't want to waste my time sword fighting a little girl like you!"

Seishiro advanced on the alchemist with great speed. Carmen tried to stop him by transforming some ice barriers from a nearby fountain, but they were destroyed easily.

She didn't even have time to block the attack. Her eyes widened and a pained gasp escaped from her as the male's sword was plunged into her torso.

Suddenly, Carmen's body broke apart into little particles. Seishiro backed away as she let out a terrified scream. "It's all over... Carmen." The last thing that the alchemist saw before she vanished was the bastard's evil smirk.

* * *

Carmen's eyes opened slightly, her vision blurred. They flew open a few seconds after she realized she was still alive. She found herself sitting in some egg-shaped capsule; many similar capsules were all around her. The alchemist saw that she was back in the clothes she had arrived in Outo in: Dark blue hooded cape, white tank top, blue jeans, and brown combat boots (the locket was still with Mokona.)

"What the hell? Where am I?" she asked.

A tapping noise was heard on the side of the glass dome over the capsule. Carmen let out a gasp when she saw Fai smiling and waving at her. In place of his bartender outfit, he was wearing a dark blue long jacket and gloves.

"_FAI!" _she yelled happily. She scrambled out of the capsule and tackled the mage in a hug, almost causing the blonde to topple over.

"~Hyuu~ surprised to see me alive, huh Rubi?" he said jokingly, placing a hand on top of the brunette's head and smiled warmly at the alchemist.

"But, how can you be alive? Seishiro's demons killed you." Carmen questioned. She released the mage and looked at him in confusion.

"Well, that's quite an interesting story," Fai answered, obviously amused by th young girl's confusion. He then pointed at something behind her. "but maybe I should tell it while we're all here, don't you think?"

Carmen looked behind was surprised to see Syaoran and Sakura waking up in their capsules. Like Fai, their recent outfits had been replaced by knew ones. Syaoran was now wearing a black T-shirt, tan cargo pants, and a green hooded cloak. A pair of goggles hung around his neck. Sakura was wearing a pink and white dress with a matching hooded cloak.

The alchemist immidiately hurried down to greet her baffled friends. Syaoran was relieved to see both Fai and Carmen alive. He then looked past them to something behind them. Following his gaze, Carmen saw Mokona still sleeping peacefully in her own capsule. Above her, Kurogane was sleeping peacefully in his capsule. The hakama was gone. In it's place the ninja wore a black cloak with a raised collar that came just above his chin. Black pants and boots were worn on his legs and feet. A red helmet imprinted with a black cresent moon adorned his head.

"Kurogane and Mokona are here too." Syaoran said relieved.

"Did that mean they were killed in Outo too?" Carmen asked.

"Not exactly," Fai told them. "We're dead in a certain way... well, in Outo at least.

All three teens fixed the mage with a confused look. They then followed as Fai led them onto a moving platform, taking them through a lit tunnel.

"You see, we were never in Outo Country at all because Outo doesn't really exist." Fai explained. A door then opened in front of them.

"...Whoa..." Carmen breathed. The door had reavealed to the four travlers a huge theme park.

**Post notes- CV: *Stumbles into room and flops onto bed.***

**Sakura:...Is she okay?**

**KCH: She's just exhausted from writing this chapter over the past few months.**

**CV: I'm...never...writing...a chapter... that long..._AGAIN! *_head starts to steam***

**KCH: Uh... so, yeah, Read, Review, and Comment, and we'll see you in chapter seven... that is if Carmen survives that long.**


	7. Chapter 7: A New Enemy

**Authors notes -** So yeah, the title for this chapter kind of sucks. Give me a break; it's hard to think of a good title when nothing happens except a friggen' long-ass battle. I was considering calling it "Battle for the Feather," but come on. That title is even worse than this one right now.

So anyway, now that **"Forbidden Love" **and the seventh chapter for **"Dragon and Tiger" **have been published, it's time to go back to this story and write the next chapter(which I will probably have to watch the episode in this chapter over again because I know what happens, but I just have to re-watch it so I can get the episode right when I write this chapter). ENJOY!

**KawaiiChibiHime33 is responsible for editing these chapters for your enjoyment :D **

**Chapter Seven: A New Enemy**

Syaoran, Sakura, and Carmen looked out in awe at the huge indoor theme park. Lights were strung from the ceiling underneath a giant glass window, showing the night sky. A huge ferris wheel, roller coaster, and all sorts of other attractions were laid out in front of them.

"The real place that we all arrived in is a world called Edonis," Fai continued to explain to the baffled teens, "and inside this world is an amusement park called Fairy Park. We've been asleep here the entire time."

"An amusement park? What's that?" Sakura asked, getting over her surprise.

"An amusement park is where people go to have fun and relax," Carmen explained. "There used to be one that came to Amestris every year when I was a little kid."

"But, how did we get here? I don't remember the park, or those glass capsules," Syaoran wondered out loud.

"Neither do I," the alchemist and the princess agreed.

"I remember everything that happened in Outo, but I thought I had dropped there when I traveled from my world," Carmen added.

"Maybe I can clear things up for you."

The four travelers turned to see a woman standing behind them. She had long, dark hair, dark brown eyes, and she wore a white and purple dress.

"Sakura, Syaoran, Carmen; I would like you to meet Chitose," Fai introduced. "She's one of the people who built Fairy Park. She's been trying to explain to me how the park works."

"Well for starters, when you arrived in Fairy Park, all of your memories of coming here were erased," Chitose began to explain.

_"What? How is that physically possible?"_ Carmen thought to herself.

"I know it's a little weird, but your memories should be returning to you at any moment."

Syaoran gasped in pain and grabbed his head.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sakura inquired, quite worried over her companion's sudden spasm.

Suddenly, a stab of pain forced its way into Carmens head. The alchemist breathed in sharply as the memory came rushing back to her.

_The glass capsules from before appeared, but th__e room was dark. Suddenly, a glowing whirlpool of water appeared out of thin air, hovering over one of the capsules for a few seconds. The whirlpool disappeared and Carmen fell from the air and into the capsule with a **thud**._

_"Ow!" the alchemist cried out. She had landed pretty hard on the capsule's seat. She opened her eyes and gasped when she saw where she was._

_"Where the hell am I? Hello! Al? Sarah? Winry? Where are you guys!" she called, looking around the room for any sign of them._

_"Welcome to your Dream Capsules," came a voice out of nowhere._

_"What? Who is that!" Carmen yelled. Her eyes widened as the dome over her capsule closed, locking her inside._

**_"WHAT THE HELL! LET ME OUT!" _**_the alchemist screamed. She clapped her hands and pressed them against the dome to shatter the glass, but nothing happened. No familiar blue sparks or transmutation circle. She then started punching and kicking at the glass dome, but that didn't even work. It was like it was bullet proof or something.  
_

_She suddenly felt herself feel drowsy. Her eyes started drooping. "No . . . I can't . . . fall . . ," she thought, but she trailed off as her eyes closed and she fell back into the seat._

Carmen's eyes shot open. "_So that's how I got into Outo,_" she thought.

"So, does that mean that everything that happened in Outo . . . was a dream?" Syaoran asked.

"Not a dream, but Virtual Reality," Chitose said.

"Huh?" the teens asked, still clearly confused.

"Basically what she's saying is that everything that happened in Outo was in our heads," Fai clarified.

"So, none of that was real?" Sakura asked, sounding a little sad.

"That's right. In Virtual Reality you can fight Oni, run cafes, whatever you want. The game is really popular."

"It's kind of hard to believe that Outo wasn't a real place," Syaoran said.

"Still, it does explain things. Like how City Hall knew every move the demons made, or why they would attack hunters. People who knew that Outo was just a game, it was like playing a game inside a game," Carmen said. Syaoran and Sakura nodded in understanding.

By now they had made their way back into the Dream Capsule room. Carmen turned her head to see that Mokona and Kurogane were still fast asleep. She noticed the ninja's frown upon his sleeping face. She felt guilt starting to gnaw at her. While they were safe in Fairy Park, Kurogane and Mokona were still in Outo, thinking that their friends were dead. They had no idea that the world was just a game, nothing but fantasy.

"Something is going wrong with the game. Something that we can't control is happening," Chitose told them, her tone full of worry.

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked.

"Someone has interfered and dreams are colliding with reality. Players have been evacuated because it's no longer safe in Outo." the brunette explained.

Carmen frowned. "What's going to happen? Is it going to affect us here?"

Chitose didn't answer the alchemist's question. She turned to Syaoran. "You know about the intruder; what can you tell us about him?" she asked.

"What do you need to know?" the younger brunette asked, a confident frown settling on his features.

An alarm went off, interrupting the conversation. To the traveler's alarm, Mokona and Kurogane's sleeping forms vanished from the capsules.

"Why did they disappear?" Fai questioned Chitose.

"The intruder is bringing the Virtual Reality into the real world!" the brunette explained.

An explosion of blue light came from the park. "Syaoran, look!" Sakura cried.

Carmen looked up and growled curses under her breath. A giant winged demon had appeared in the sky. Standing on its head was none other than the bastard himself: Seishiro.

"We have to find out how he's bringing the Virtual Reality into this world." Chitose explained to them. The giant demon bird roared in the distance. "If we can't stop him, Fairy Park won't be the only thing he destroys. The whole world of Edonis will be next!"

"He must be using the Princess's feather," Syaoran said. "We all know he has it, and I'm sure that's what is giving him his power for this." A confident frown took over his features. "We have to get it back."

"Oh that's a great idea. Let's just ask nicely." Fai suggested. Carmen sweatdropped at his sarcastic remark.

_"Intruder in the park, Sector B."_

"Visual!" Chitose commanded. A screen suddenly appeared in front of them. What showed up on the screen made their eyes widen in shock.

"Kurogane!" Carmen exclaimed. The raven looked like he was about to face off against Seishiro. As if on cue, her catlike hearing abilities began to kick in, honing in on every conversation in the area. Even though they were far away, the alchemist heard every word.

"You're the man who commanded those Oni to kill the mage, aren't you?" Kurogane asked.

"Yes."

"Where's Syaoran?"

"I'm afraid that he's dead." Carmen sensed the raven's body tensing with anger.

"And the alchemist? She went after you when you left the Cat's Eye to avenge Fai."

"I killed her too." she could just see that sick smile on his face by the sound of his tone.

A moment of silence passed between the two. "That's too bad," came Kurogane's growl. the alchemist heard the sound of a sword leaving it's scabbard, "because now, I'm going to end what they started."

The screen turned into static, cutting off their visual and Carmen's connection to the fight starting to brew. Opening her eyes, she barely heard Syaoran's shout telling the others to follow him. They ran down across the park going unnoticed by the giant demon above them. That's when Syaoran caught sight of a group of demon hunters that came into the cafe regularly. Yuzuriha and Kusanagi as one team and Soma and Ryu-oh as another.

Ryu-oh was the first one to see Syaoran. "Little Puppy! You're alive!" he cried out happily. Yuzuriha ran up to Sakura, asking her friend if she was okay. Mokona jumped out of Soma's arms and into Fai's crying his name out happily. She then turned to Carmen and repeated the same thing. The alchemist smiled gently and stroked the manju's ears in a silent apology for worrying her.

"Oh, Carmen! I still have your locket!" Mokona said. She hopped onto the alchemist's shoulders and clasped the gold heart back in its rightful place.

Chitose's sudden warning put a halt to the happy reunion. "Look out!"

Everyone moved just in time as Seishiro's giant demon hawk's tail came out of nowhere and slammed onto the ground where they had been moments before. Taking refuge under a ruined platform, the group looked up at the monster.

"Looks like we're all gonna have to fight." Ryu-oh stated.

Soma took her double-moon boomerangs from her belt. "There's no other way."

"But how do you know if you can still fight? You're in the real world, not some video game." Carmen told them. As she said this she unsheathed the Ivory Blade. It transformed to its sword form under the wave of its master's hand. At least she was an actual swordsman and alchemist in the real world.

"Why not? If the demons crossed over, that means our hunter skills did too." Kusanagi said.

"You should be the same as you were in the game, but remember: If you die you're not waking up. This is the real world, not a virtual one." Chitose reminded all of them. Though the reminder put a sense of uneasiness in Carmen, it made her sharpen her guard. She couldn't die here. She had to get back home. Sarah was waiting for her.

"If we need to get Seishiro's power source to defeat the demon, then let me handle the feather, guys. It's the thing I've been looking for since I came to this world." Syaoran told them.

With all of that in mind, the group advanced toward their enemy. While the others kept it busy, Syaoran ran towards the platform that Seishiro and Kurogane were fighting on. Since the raven had forbid Syaoran from using his sword, Carmen said that she would go with him. When the younger teen protested, the alchemist told him that she would watch his back for any attackers since she was more experienced with a sword than he was. He agreed not long after that. Now they were at the bottom of the structure, looking up at the two swordsmen locked in combat.

"I have to end this. This is all my fault." Syaoran said in a guilty tone.

Carmen perked her ears once again as she sensed another conversation being exchanged between the two men.

"There wasn't one person left in my home world that was worth fighting," Kurogane was saying. "You're actually a pretty good opponent. Killing you will be the best challenge that I've had in a while." He had that cocky smirk on his face that for some reason pissed the alchemist off every time she saw it.

"It's quite a shame that you're under that curse. That complicates it a lot, doesn't it?" Seishiro asked him.

The cocky smile fell. "_A curse? What is he talking about?"_ Carmen thought.

"Everytime you kill someone you lose a little bit of your own strength," A sly smirk spread over his face. "A very high price to pay, isn't it?"

The alchemist saw the raven's grip on Souhi's hilt tighten. "You already killed the wizard, the kid, and even the alchemist," the sword came up again. The determined smile of Kurogane returned. "Curse or no curse I'm going to keep fighting until one of us is in the ground!"

The two of them lunged toward each other, blades drawn and evil smirks on their lips. Syaoran started running up the stairs, Carmen following suit. Clapping her hands together, the alchemist was about to slam them to the ground and transmute a barrier between the two swordsmen when there was a sudden flash of light. After it faded, the four people on the platform sweatdropped at what they saw. A shovel with what appeared to be a note attached to it had penetrated the ground between Seishiro and Kurogane, stopping them from bringing their blades into each other.

"What the hell is this?" Kurogane asked picking up the shovel. He then happened to look toward the stairs. His gaze only lingered on Syaoran and Carmen for a moment before Fai's cheerful voice came from far behind them.

"Yoo-hoo! Kuro-puu!"

"You guys!" the raven exclaimed. There was shock on his face and also what looked like relief. But that quickly changed in an instant when the expression turned to a frown and he replied "You're still alive?"

Carmen was about to shoot back an angry retort when she was interupted by Seishiro. "Looks like you made it back here safely. The three of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogane growled.

That's when Seishiro's chest started glowing. As he removed the source, Mokona's eyes opened wide.

"IT'S THE PRINCESS'S FEATHER!" Syaoran yelled.

Suddenly, different types of Oni started appearing all around the group. They were soon surrounded.

"Looks like we're going to be busy for awhile, huh?" Fai asked smiling goofily.

Kurogane, who had rejoined the group, brought up his sword. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm itching for another fight."

The other demon hunters brought up her weapons. Syaoran and Carmen brought up Hien and the Ivory Blade. However, the raven's next sentence shocked the alchemist.

"You stay out of this, kid. It's too dangerous."

Carmen turned on the older swordsman. "What the hell! What do you mean it's too dangerous? I can fight, you even saw me when you and Syaoran almost got your asses kicked by that Oni!"

Anger flashed in the raven's eyes. "How do I know that wasn't just the game that made you good at fighting? Just stay out of this and let us handle this!"

"No! I'm going to fight! And I don't know if anyone has told you this lately, but you're really a thick-headed dumbass sometimes!'' she yelled.

What happened next was something nobody saw coming. The giant demon hawk's tail slammed into Carmen, sending her flying. She didn't even have enough time to let out a scream. She screwed her eyes shut and waited for impact. Her body hit something and her head snapped back, the back of it colliding with stone.

_Unconsciousness took over._

* * *

She didn't know how long she was out for. All she knew was that the back of her head and the rest of her body was in horrible pain from it's impact from the demon's tail and the wall. She could also hear voices around her, but they sounded muffled and far away. Like she was underwater or something.

A sudden yet somewhat foreign feeling came over her. Warmth and Safety. She hadn't felt this since her parents died.

Opening her eyes at first was difficult. After she managed to do that her vision was all blurry and she groaned quietly as the back of her head throbbed when she tried to raise it slightly. When her vision was finally back to normal, she looked up to see Kurogane looking down at her. Anger was the main emotion in his gaze, but Carmen could have sworn that she saw concern hidden in there somewhere.

Seeing that she was awake, Fai explained to her what happened. The reason that Outo had been brought into the real world was because of Sakura's feather. The group had then fought off the demons that Seishiro had summoned to protect him. Syaoran had tried to get the feather back, but Seishiro had fled to another world with it.

Kurogane must had gotten her after the battle because the alchemist was currently being held bridal style in his arms, her injured head resting against his chest. Even though she could sense his obvious anger with her, Carmen was surprised that he was holding her so carefully. Like she was so fragile that one wrong move and she would shatter.

Before anyone could say anything, Mokona jumped off of Fai's shoulder. To the alchemist's surprise, the little manju grew giant white feathered wings. Something that looked a little similar to a transmutation circle appeared beneath the traveler's feet.

"Kuro-rin! Syaoran-kun," Fai called to them, "it looks like it's time to bid farewell to this country."

"Huh?" the ninja, alchemist, the princess, and archeologist all asked.

Mokona's mouth then opened, sending out glowing multicolored swirls of magic that surrounded the travelers. It caused Kurogane's hakama to turn back into the black cloak and red moon imprinted helmet that he had been wearing in the dream capsule.

"Looks like another member's been added to our journey!" Fai laughed cheerfully. Carmen, who was still in Kurogane's arms, was too mesmerized by what was happening around her to respond. She caught one last look at the demon hunters. Syaoran and Ryu-oh had fist bumped and the alchemist caught the last snippet of their conversation.

"Don't _ever _give up," Syaoran was saying to his friend. "Get stronger! Much stronger!"

A smile spread across the teen's face as he nodded in agreement.

Carmen then closed her eyes as the familiar feeling of teleporting came over her once again.

**Post notes- CV: ***Flops down on couch* Finally. I'm done!

**KCH33: **There's still the next chapter to write. You wrote it out already.

**CV:** *Groans*

Anyway, hope you liked this insanely long chapter. Make sure you review! Bye!


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